The President of the Republic, Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan was the guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, which took place this morning. The Executive Committee meeting was officially opened by the president of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), Honourable Roger Mancienne.
The event, which is taking place at the Eden Bleu Hotel, Eden Island from the 27th to 28th May 2023, has the participation of the seven Speakers of Parliament and seven Members of Parliament in Africa.
In his opening remarks, the President welcomed the participants to Seychelles and expressed how it is an honour for the country to host such an important meeting in preparation for the plenary to be held in Tanzania in July. He also thanked the Committee for entrusting the Presidency of SADC PF to the Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles, Honourable Roger Mancienne. He noted that by doing so, it has also honoured the Seychelles National Assembly and the country.
President Ramkalawan commended the members for the pivotal role they play in advancing the formulation of policies and resolutions and the preparation of Model Laws. He gave his commitment and continued support to assist the forum when possible and to bring forward any issues of concern to the attention of the Heads of State in the organisation. Furthermore, the President underlined that the Republic of Seychelles will give its full support to the Forum to proceed with the transformation agenda and to count on their support during deliberations of the SADC organs.
“These projects address the SADC PF’s role as the main inter-parliamentary organisation of Southern Africa, endowed with the requisite mandate to advance the rule of law and human rights in the region, and to realise the contribution of Parliaments in national development. This is what SADC PF is about and I am here today to commend your contributions in these areas. Although Parliaments are not entrusted with the implementation of programs which the executive branches of governments must undertake, they can do a lot to advance the right policies, to conceive and propose programs of actions, and to accompany the Executive in the realization of the development goals”
“I wish to assure you, Honourable Members, that I remain fully supportive of the work of the Forum and that I will continue do what I can to assist. As a member of the SADC summit, I will continue to be aware of your goals and targets and where they continue to be in line with the principles that I share, I will undertake to communicate your concerns to the Heads of State in the organization. I have conveyed this support through your President,» said the President.
He continued, “I am confident that your deliberations today and tomorrow will bring the SADC-PF closer to its coveted objective of realizing the transformation and I wish you all good luck in this significant endeavour. I equally wish you courage and discernment in negotiating with the SADC Secretariat for the transformation aspects or features that you desire to see in the SADC Parliament as you work on the finalization of the Protocol. You as leaders in EXCO will be best placed to know how best to reflect Forum policy into the Protocol, to ensure that the Parliament takes off where the Forum has reached. I am also aware that the Forum will be discussing the issue of modernization of agriculture at its forthcoming 53rd Plenary Assembly and I wish to congratulate you for selecting this theme which is particularly momentous for the region,” said President Ramkalawan.
The President also touched upon the issue of food security, climate change and challenges in its agricultural sector which is being confronted by the SADC counties, “We believe that the theme to be taken up by the Forum is manifestly relevant to the region and we look forward to the resolutions of the 53rd Plenary Assembly and its recommendations on how to address agricultural challenges in the 21st century, how to modernize the sector and to make it gender sensitive as well as resilient to climate disasters.
My Government is itself committed to ensuring that the agricultural sector is comprehensively modernized for farmers and that the sector is equally accessible to all who can play a part. As you can see around you, our own potential in agriculture is severely limited by our terrain. We do not have much in the way of agricultural land and what is available is already under severe pressure from other development needs and of course to respect our environment preservation agenda. But we will continue looking for ways to maximise the productive use of what we have and recently we have turned to our secondary islands as the new frontier for agricultural development. However, there is one area in which we can make a contribution to food security and that is fisheries. Our fisheries sector is thriving although we have to accept limits in exploitation because of the need to keep it sustainable. But it is clear that even now we are not using what we can harvest to the fullest,” said President Ramkalawan.
The Head of State concluded his remarks by assuring Seychelles’ commitments to advance regional cooperation at all levels, which includes pursuing inter-parliamentary consultations and exchanges through the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Also present this morning was the Vice President of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), Honourable Marie Joanne Sabrina Tour, Honourable Speakers of SADC Parliamentary Forum Member Parliaments; the Treasurer of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Hon. Mduduzi Matsebula; Honourable Members of the Executive of the SADC Parliamentary Forum; the Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Her Excellency Ms Boemo Sekgoma; and SADC PF Secretariat Staff and Staff of SADC National Parliaments.